My Overly Anxious and Devoted Girlfriend Never Gives Up on Me - Chapter 2.11

“Tomorrow after school, I’d like to return the book I borrowed.”

Last night, Aoto-kun readily agreed to my message request.

This meant I had secured time alone with him.

I could say the plan was progressing smoothly.

“Good morning, Mikura-san.”

“Ah, Aoto-kun!”

When I arrived at school, Aoto-kun immediately called out to me.

Since opportunities like this were rare, I was caught off guard.

“You read books quickly, don’t you?”

“Ah, yes! I finished it in no time…!”

“Whoa. Since we have the chance, let’s save the book discussion for after school.”

Saying this, Aoto-kun smiled happily.

His smile, the kind I rarely got to see made me feel dizzy.

“Well then, stay after school and wait for me.”

“Y-yes! I’ll definitely wait!”

“Ahaha. Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”

Without losing that smile, Aoto-kun walked over to his seat by the window.

I also went to my seat and waited for class to begin.

Perhaps because I was refining the strategy I’d thought of yesterday, morning classes passed in a flash.

Anticipating such situations, I always put more than enough effort into my studies.

Missing one day of classes wouldn’t put me behind.

When lunch break came, I moved to the library.

I needed a quiet place to further improve the quality of my strategy.

In the library, there were only me, a few other students, and the diligent library committee member, Nonoka Naruse-san.

Speaking of Naruse-san, she was my former love rival who had confessed to Aoto-kun about two weeks ago and got rejected.

No, perhaps it was somewhat rude to arbitrarily add “former.”

After all, even I didn’t have information on whether she had given up on Aoto-kun or not.

I sat in a suitable seat, crossed my arms, and let my thoughts wander.

The strategy I planned to execute today.

To put it bluntly, it was “getting Aoto-kun to be my boyfriend for now.”

I would confess my feelings to Aoto-kun, and even if we weren’t mutually in love yet, having him be my boyfriend in name alone would keep rivals—mainly Yunagi-san—at bay.

Of course, my ultimate goal was to properly approach Aoto-kun afterward and eventually become genuine lovers.

Honestly, it was probably an underhanded and unconventional plan.

I was aware of that.

But it was also true that the situation wasn’t lenient enough for me to worry about appearances.

If I dawdled and Aoto-kun got taken by Yunagi-san, I probably wouldn’t be able to go on living.

But Yunagi-san might be capable of that, and she might really do it.

To avoid that worst-case scenario and increase my chances of winning.

Today, I would take a gamble.

“…Hm?”

Suddenly, I felt like Naruse-san, sitting at the checkout counter, had glanced my way.

No, it probably wasn’t my imagination.

When I looked back, our eyes met.

With a slightly stiff expression, Naruse-san stood up and slowly approached me.

“Mi-Mikura-san, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

I responded to her, who spoke in a whisper-like voice.

She sat down next to me and continued with a tense expression.

“…Um, by any chance, Mikura-san… do you, like… Sakuraba-kun?”

“Wh…!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I unintentionally raised my voice.